Konica Minolta 2013 Annual Report Download - page 19

bizhub PRO 951, bizhub PRESS 1250 and bizhub PRESS 1052, which went on sale
in the fi rst half of the fi scal year, and sales volume increased year on year for both
color and monochrome production printing equipment.
The Company has been aggressively promoting M&As in this segment to expand
sales of output units, chiefl y MFPs, and business solution services and to transform
the scope of its business in the future.
In the offi ce fi eld, the Company boosted its capability to provide proposals for
business process improvement to small and medium-sized corporate customers by
acquiring IT service providers Serians S.A.S. based in France in June 2012 and
Raber+Marcker GmbH based in Germany in December 2012 to strengthen its IT
service capability, which is the key to delivering the business process improvement
services it is promoting together with Optimized Print Services (OPS). The Company
made fi ve similar acquisitions in the United States (effective during the current fi scal
year). The number of customers also increased in the area of sales to major global
accounts. For example, the Company concluded a global agreement with a major
European energy company.
In the production print fi eld, the Company acquired FedEx Kinko’s Japan Co.,
Ltd., Japan’s leading print on demand services company, in May 2012 and South
Korea’s FedEx Kinko’s Korea Ltd. in January 2013 to strengthen marketing, service
and solution proposal capabilities in the corporate in-house printing market. In Europe,
the Company acquired U.K.-based Charterhouse PM Limited, a major print
management services company specializing in material and cost optimization for
production of its clients’ printing needs and marketing planning with business in 18
European countries.
As a result, Business Technologies Business segment sales increased 6.2% year
on year to ¥581.6 billion, and segment profi t declined 19.8% to ¥31.6 billion. Sales
increased year on year, helped by such factors as increased sales volume for new
color MFPs products and production printing equipment and the effect of M&As. Profi t
in the segment declined, affected by the delay of the planned cost reductions for new
products and the deterioration in market conditions in Europe.
Industrial Business
In the display materials fi eld, sales of thin plain TAC fi lms, a strong Group product,
including 40m TAC fi lm, VA-TAC fi lm for large screen TVs and 60m TAC fi lm,
remained favorable, and sales volume for these products increased year on year.
Moreover, the Company led the industry in commencing mass production of 25m
ultra-thin TAC fi lm for the mobile phone market in November 2012, further boosting
competitiveness in thin plain TAC fi lm products.
In the optical products fi eld, sales of glass substrates for hard disk drives (HDDs)
and pickup lenses for optical disks were poor, strongly affected by the deterioration in
market conditions, but the Company’s products were increasingly used in digital
cinema projector lenses, interchangeable lenses for digital SLR cameras and zoom
lens units for compact digital cameras. Moreover, the Company commenced
shipments of mobile phone lens units for smartphones at the beginning of 2012, and
sales volume of all products increased year on year.
In the measuring instruments fi eld, the Company won major orders for light-
source color measuring instruments, including the CL-200A chroma meter used in
quality management of displays and LED illumination modules for smartphones and
other applications during the manufacturing process and the CA-310 display color
analyzer, and sales volume increased year on year. In November 2012, the Company
acquired Germany-based Instrument Systems GmbH, which holds a large market
share especially in high-end products, to strengthen competitiveness in the light-
source color measurement fi eld.
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